President
Obama recognized the reality of Russian propaganda and disinformation,
telling
an audience in Belgium that “It is absurd to suggest—as
a steady drumbeat of Russian voices do—that America is somehow conspiring
with fascists inside of Ukraine or failing to respect the Russian people.”
But he went on to spew his own propaganda, saying that “…unlike
the Soviet Union, Russia leads no bloc of nations, no global ideology.”
These assertions are demonstrably false and go far beyond the usual “gaffes”
attributed by the media to (mostly Republican) political figures.

Analyst
Toby Westerman has put together a list of examples of how international
communist ideology still guides the conduct of Russian President Vladimir
Putin, a former KGB officer and one-time head of its successor agency,
the FSB. “I don’t see why it is so difficult to see the ideology
behind Putin,” Westerman says, noting that Putin has declared, “There
is no such thing as a former Chekist.” The Cheka was the forerunner
to the KGB and stood for the All-Russian Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution
and Sabotage.

“The
mission of the Cheka was to defend the Communist Revolution and to destroy
its enemies,” notes
Westerman. “[Cheka head] Felix Dzerzhinsky carried out his task
with stunning brutality and efficiency. The Cheka developed what became
a legendary reputation for kidnapping, torture, and murder. In its first
years of operation, Cheka victims numbered in the hundreds of thousands.
Although officially dissolved in 1922, the Cheka’s methods and mission
continue to the present. All current and “retired” Russian
intelligence officers consider themselves as Chekists. Today, Russia is
controlled by the Chekist Putin, and his spy associates. Russia is, in
reality, a ‘spyocracy.’”

Other
examples of the Soviet KGB’s living legacy include:

•Putin
sang the KGB unofficial anthem with the Russian spies who were deported
from the U.S. in 2010 shortly after their arrival in Russia• Putin has praised
the work of Soviet spies (such as Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who stole
U.S. atom bomb secrets for the Russians)• A plaque dedicated to Kim Philby, a Russian
double agent, was placed on the wall outside Russia’s foreign
intelligence service headquarters• Soviet Red Star markings have returned
to Russian military aircraft• The cruiser Aurora, which played
an important role in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, was made
into a museum

“Their
minds are in 1917,” Westerman says of Putin and his former KGB associates.

Westerman
points out that, in terms of leading a bloc of nations, which Obama denies,
Russia has basically united with pro-Stalinist Belarus, while it aids
North Korea, arms neo-Communist Venezuela, is closely allied with Communist
China, shares intelligence with Cuba, and sponsors the Iranian regime’s
pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Belarus
is a member of Putin’s proposed Eurasian Economic Union, an association
of post-Soviet states.

In addition,
as we have reported, Putin adviser Aleksandr Dugin is the leader of the
“International Eurasia Movement,” which includes a “strategic
alliance” between Iran and Russia.

On top
of this, there is the group known as BRICS, referring to Brazil, Russia,
India, China and South Africa.

We found
very few references in the press to how BRICS had rejected sanctions against
Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. One source was the Iranian Press
TV, which highlighted
how the foreign ministers of the BRICS countries had issued a statement
defending Russia.

A Russian
Pravda
report went further, noting that Dilma Rousseff, the former communist
terrorist who is now president of Brazil, is the liaison with the “left
South American bloc ALBA,” consisting of Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador
and Nicaragua. Brazil has “initiated removing the US dollar from
internal trade within BRICS.” The report added that “Brazil
is also the largest trading partner of Russia in Latin America, and the
trade between the two countries is expected to increase from the current
$6 billion a year to $10 billion by the end of the decade.

In terms
of how Soviet-style ideology lives on in Russia, we could add several
other examples:

•
Soviet symbols, such as the hammer and sickle, were displayed
with pride during the Sochi Olympics opening ceremony in Russia• A supporter of Crimea joining Russia was photographed
holding a poster of Stalin in front of the statue of Lenin in Simferopol’s
Lenin Square• The Russian Orthodox Church published
a calendar for 2014 dedicated to Stalin• The music of the Russian national anthem is
the same as the old Soviet anthem

In his
speech, Obama said, “We welcomed Russia into the G-8 and the World
Trade Organization. From the reduction of nuclear arms to the elimination
of Syria’s chemical weapons, we believe the world has benefited
when Russia chooses to cooperate on the basis of mutual interests and
mutual respect.”

Russia
has now been suspended from the G-8, but it continues to have access to
Western capital through Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR), which
Obama forced through Congress in 2012.

“The
House of Representatives and the Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation
allowing Obama to grant permanent normal trade relations, or PNTR, to
Russia in order to ensure that U.S. companies share the full benefits
of Russia’s recent entry in the World Trade Organization,”
Reuters reported at the time.

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PNTR
for Russia passed the House by a vote of 365-43 and the Senate by 92-4.
The membership
of the U.S.-Russia Business Council includes many major U.S. companies,
and can be counted on to oppose revoking PNTR for Russia.

As far
as nuclear arms reductions are concerned, despite the New START treaty
passed by the Senate in response to Obama’s demand, the “World
Nuclear Stockpile Report” of the Ploughshares Fund still shows
Russia with 8,500 nuclear weapons—800 more than the United States.

Bill
Gertz, who recently received the Reed Irvine Award for Investigative Journalism,
has
reported evidence that Russia is violating the terms of the 1987 Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with the United States.

Analyst
Toby Westerman has put together a list of examples of how international
communist ideology still guides the conduct of Russian President Vladimir
Putin, a former KGB officer and one-time head of its successor agency,
the FSB.